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If you think that some of the light bulbs stocked by Easy Light Bulbs are a little on the thin side, you may be interested to know about a new type of bulb – one that is as thin as a sheet of paper, yet stronger than any other material on Earth. It sounds like the stuff of science fiction movies, but that hasn’t stopped a group of scientists creating it.

Admittedly, we don’t have it in stock here at Easy Light Bulbs just yet – and you may have a few years to wait. The light bulb in question was developed by scientists from Columbia University, Seoul National University and the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, and is made from graphene, which – despite being as thin as an atom – is also regarded as the strongest material on the planet.

The scientists combined the very recent idea of making a light bulb from graphene with the infinitely more traditional one of mimicking the way the glowing filament works in traditional incandescent light bulbs – albeit, on a microscopic scale. Electrical currents are put through strips of graphene that have been connected to metal electrodes and suspended over the substrate. The resultant heating up of the graphene produces light.

The light that is produced isn’t microscopic, though – indeed, it is visible to the naked eye when the graphene is heated to 4,532 degrees Fahrenheit (2,500 degrees Celsius), which is about on a par with the temperature required for an incandescent light bulb filament. However, with graphene proving an ineffective heat conductor at such temperatures, the heat did have to be concentrated in a small part of the material. Varying the distance separating the filament from the substrate also changes the colour of the light.

Team leader and Columbia research scientist Young Duck Kim said that it was four years ago when he discovered graphene’s light-emitting properties, a surprising finding among others who had not imagined that graphene would be able to produce light, given that unlike an LED, it is not a semiconductor.

Kim added that we may only have to wait two or three years for graphene to begin to be attached to windows or walls for use as a light, and that within about five years, it may be used for the manufacture of transparent displays. These are intriguing possibilities for sure, and here at Easy Light Bulbs, we await with interest whether graphene could just be the future of light bulbs.

Anyone who has been reading this blog for a decent amount of time will know that we have recently written about the possibility of the sale of halogen light bulbs being phased out by the European Union (EU) by as soon as next year. Well, with a vote having now taken place on the issue, we can confirm that inefficient “D”-class halogen lamps will now remain on UK store shelves until at least 1st September 2018.

That was the proposal of the European Commission that was agreed to by Member States on 17th April, following an extensive review process that was open to the public. Active contributors to this assessment included Members of the European Parliament, Member States authorities, consumer organisations, environmental NGOs and the lighting industry.

It is the low efficiency of halogen light bulbs that is leading to them being phased out, with a halogen lamp often consuming five times more than an energy-efficient LED. This led to the 2009 decision by Member States to phase out such inefficient “D”-class halogen lamps from 1st September 2016. However, the Commission has now decided that this would be too early for LED technology to fully replace halogen lamps, hence the further two-year delay.

This is good news for those of you who still shop for halogen light bulbs here at Easy Light Bulbs, and were concerned about the upfront costs of LED light bulbs if you had been forced to make the switch next year. However, 2018 is still early enough to the bring the significant benefits to the environment that the more efficient LED alternatives are capable of delivering. In the additional two years, it is also a fair bet that more efficient and affordable LEDs will become available.

The decision means that from 1st September 2018, certain non-directional mains-voltage halogen lamps – mainly the pear-shaped ones – will no longer be brought to the market. However, directional halogen lamps, such as popular spotlights, are not affected, and nor are the halogen lamps that tend to be used in desk lamps and flood lights.

In addition, the measures only apply to the offering of new products for sale, and do not impact on products that are already on store shelves, so it looks likely that online shops like Easy Light Bulbs will still have supplies of these bulbs for some time after that date.

Of the decision by the Commission, Diederik de Stoppelaar – Secretary General at the lighting industry association LightingEurope – commented: “The industry strongly supports and has for years the changeover to more energy efficient lighting solutions. While 2020 was the ideal date for a phase-out of the popular domestic halogens, 2018 is an acceptable compromise.

“What consumers must realize, is that alternative developing technologies take time to be fully realised—and then to subsequently be widely available on the market.”

There is no doubt that the light bulb industry has undergone a significant transformation in the last few decades as traditional light bulbs have been removed from the market and gradually replaced with more energy efficient bulbs. There are now so many different types of lighting, but LED lights are becoming increasingly popular due to their energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

The light bulbs are useful in both residential and commercial buildings with LED lighting, in particular, being at the forefront of sustainability strategies deployed by organisations in the public sector so that they are perceived as being environmentally friendly. All business sectors from the manufacturing industry – from vast, wide-ranging warehouses to small offices – make use of the LED light bulb, on account of its reliability and capacity to provide the right lighting in a work environment. In addition, as the costs of running the bulbs are low and the performance of the bulb continues to improve, they are the preferred choice with many business owners.

LED bulbs are also found in many homes as well as businesses. Not only do they emit lots of light, but they are also warming and conserve energy, so they are an ideal solution for any room in the home. LED bulbs come in an array of sizes and shapes and the combination of their innovative design and stunning effects create a great ambience in any room. You can also save up to 90% energy in comparison with traditional bulbs, so there’s never been a better time to switch your home lighting to LED. Easy Light Bulbs stocks a variety of high quality, lasting bulbs to suit every room in your home.

What’s more, our LED light bulbs provide a lifespan of more than 50,000 hours, so you don’t need to worry about replacing the bulbs regularly. We supply an array of quality light bulbs from a number of high profile suppliers, including Philips and Osram, and our products are extremely affordable. There’s the LED architectural bulb or the corn bulb as well as panels, strip lights and tubes.

We have one of the most comprehensive stock lists online, and with our low prices and high quality products, LED lighting has never been more affordable, whether the light bulbs are for your home or business.

The team at The Lamp Company love to help a customer in urgent need of a rare bulb. We were contacted by a customer during the final stages of a major aircraft repair in Luxembourg, a key lamp in a piece of vital test equipment had failed and there were no spares available. This meant that the test equipment was unserviceable and the repair had to be stopped with 60 technicians unable to continue. This occurred during on a Saturday morning when all suppliers were closed. The customer contacted one of our European partners who suggested that the only people that might be able to help would be The Lamp Company in Baldock.

An email pinged into our out of hours contact and on Saturday afternoon we confirmed that we had a replacement in stock. We then made arrangements for the item to be picked and packed early on the Sunday morning and handed over to our customers courier by 09:30am from a member of staffs home. All at no extra cost!! The replacement lamp was then on a flight by 2:00pm and on-site and fitted by 6:00pm. The repair was able to continue without any further delay and the repair was completed a few days later, on Schedule. Phew!

Almost any store – like Easy Light Bulbs – that has some two million bulbs in stock at any one time will inevitably have many different categories of lamp to choose from. You really can turn to us for the most comprehensive range of light bulbs for the home and beyond, from general household lighting and infra red bulbs to halogen energy savers and marine navigation bulbs – so why would you want to invest in our coloured light bulbs?

These bulbs, which here at Easy Light Bulbs encompass fluorescent tubes, halogen reflectors, pygmy bulbs, round bulbs, reflector bulbs and standard bulbs, make sense in a variety of settings. You may screw some into your ordinary light fittings to enliven the scene of a party, or they may be used to simultaneously illuminate a room and project a certain ambience. Whatever feel you want a room to have, it can be achieved with our extensive selection of coloured light bulbs.

That is even more the case when you consider the many colours in which we offer such bulbs, ranging from red, yellow and blue to gold, orange and pink. But there are so many more specification options when you buy your coloured light bulbs from Easy Light Bulbs. Even just buying coloured fluorescent tubes from us, for example, allows you to select from four-pin units and those with two pins at either end, as well as from such manufacturers as Osram, Philips, Sylvania and Narva.

Similarly, when you browse our online store for coloured halogen reflectors, you can opt for GU10 or two-pin units, represented brands in this category including Bell, Casell and Osram. You can also choose between a series of wattage counts, finishes, expected lifespans, physical lengths, diameters and beam angles. That amount of choice presents itself throughout our product range – our coloured round bulbs, for instance, are available in both bayonet 22mm diameter and screw-in 27mm diameter variants.

Whether you are picking up coloured light bulbs to help to create a romantic atmosphere in the bedroom, to light up exhibited items in a cabinet, as a backdrop for dancing the night away or for all manner of other potential uses, there really is no need to look to an online store other than Easy Light Bulbs. We take pride in our reputation as the complete – not to mention most competitively-priced – supplier.